Heroes For Hire
by ComicNerdForLife
Summary: Anastasia, Isaac, Zane, Mia and Naomi all had one thing in common. They had abilities, ones that had been exploited all their lives. They escaped their abusers and met, then realized that their powers could be a tool, a tool to use and profit from. And they did. Until of course they told Colonel Rhodes they would rescue Tony Stark. Then everything went to hell in a hand basket.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **( Afghanistan, June 2** **nd** **2008, 6:49pm)**

Anastasia did not like Afghanistan. It was hot, sand was everywhere and she always got dehydrated whenever she was in the country.

Still, she had a job to do. Rescue one 'Anthony Edward Stark' from whoever the hell was keeping him captive. The eight year old didn't expect that much trouble, though. She and her teammates had been surveilling the cave the terrorists were in for three weeks now.

Said surveillance had shown that while they had been smart enough to capture a billionaire, they were _not_ smart enough to have secondary locations. In other words, they kept their asses parked exactly where they were.

Stupid mistake, really. You should _always_ assume your enemies knew where you were hiding. Anastasia wasn't going to complain, however. It just made her job that much easier.

She stood up and stretched, mentally preparing to go inside and steal Stark right from under their noses. Isaac, her partner, copied her movements before speaking.

"So," the ten year old beside her said. "You know the plan?"

Anastasia rolled her eyes at the question. "Yes, Reaper. You go in first, locate Stark and radio me when you have him. I portal into the room then portal us back to the rendezvous point."

Isaac gave a firm nod. "Good, no screw ups, okay?"

"In and out, twenty minutes tops." Anastasia confirmed, pushing down any annoyance she felt. Isaac just had to be sure, after all if they did screw up there would be a high possibility of them dying.

Isaac studied her face for moment before giving a smirk. "Let's go liberate a billionaire then, shall we?"

Anastasia laughed as she nodded. Isaac let his smirk grow slightly as he raised his hand to the commlink in his ear.

"Alright Command, we're good to go." Isaac informed the person on the other end.

There was a small burst of static before a young female voice came through. "Copy that, Reaper. You and MH are good to go. Stay frosty."

Anastasia and Isaac shared exasperated looks. "Seriously, Command? Do you have to be so official?" Anastasia muttered, rubbing her temples.

Command could be heard harrumphing at that remark. "Just because _you_ don't care about radio decorum, doesn't mean I can't, Hatter."

"Mia, we're the only ones that can hear you!" Isaac exclaimed, facepalming.

Immediately Anastasia and the newly named 'Mia' chastised him. "No names!"

Isaac merely groaned in defeat.

A sudden male voice drifted over the comm. "Now, now children. Don't make me separate you."

Isaac brightened instantly, recognizing backup when he heard the voice. "Zane! I mean, Guardian! Help me, I'm getting ganged up on!"

Zane snickered at that. "Tell you what. You and Hatter complete your mission and then I'll tell the ladies to stop bullying you, okay?"

Issac mock pouted. "Fine." He murmured sullenly.

"Come on, you big baby. We need to do this, get your butt in there." Anastasia nudged him none too gently.

He turned to give her a glare before heaving a once again defeated sigh. "Going in." he said into the comm before getting a concentrated look on his face.

A shimmer began to fluctuate around his body, his form beginning to seemingly vanish into thin air. Anastasia knew better though, he hadn't gone anywhere. He had simply manipulated the light surrounding him to make it seem like he had vanished.

"Ready?" Isaac's disembodied voice asked one final time.

Anastasia gave a sharp nod. "Ready."

"See you in few then, Hatter." Isaac told her.

Anastasia watched his footsteps travel down the hill they were before going off into the cave a minute later.

"He's in." Anastasia informed her commlink as she settled in to wait for her partners signal.

"Copy," Mia's voice came through before falling silent again.

 _OoOoOo_

Anastasia had been sitting on the ground boredly waiting for her signal to portal in for ten minutes when she heard the sound of gun fire.

She perked up immediately when she realized it was coming from her comm, more importantly from Isaac.

"Reaper, report." Mia ordered tersely, having picked up on it as well. "What's going on?"

A few seconds went by before he replied sounding dazed. "Command, Stark is fighting his captors. In a _metal suit_."

Disbelieving silence was all that was heard.

"Reaper," Zane's incredulous voice said. "Would you repeat that please?"

"Stark's fighting his way out. In a _huge metal suit_." Came the quick response.

"What!?" Naomi's voice suddenly demanded through the comm. "I'm gone for thirty minutes to eat lunch and this happens?"

Isaac gave a slightly hysterical laugh. "I don't know what to tell you, Blizzard. That's what I'm- holy shit!"

"Reaper!?" Four voices shouted as one.

Anastasia rolled to her feet and prepared to throw a portal when she saw the reason for Isaac's sudden exclamation.

"Holy. Shit." Anastasia echoed her partner as she stared at the shocking scene in front of her.

A huge figure stepped out of the mouth of the cave, completely incased in metal. It imposingly stood there, unflinchingly taking the bullets fired at him by the terrorists.

"Hatter?" Zane questioned her. "What's going on?"

"Zane, I don't even know how I would _begin_ to explain this." Anastasia told him absently, all of her attention focused on the metal man in front of her.

"Try." Naomi urged her.

Anastasia ignored her as she watched the metal figure, Stark, start using flamethrowers built into his suit's arms to torch his captors. Anastasia had never seen anything like that before. It scared her honestly. How much destruction could that thing cause?

She didn't have much time to dwell on that thought as Isaac seemingly appeared next to her, startling her.

"How the did her build that?" Isaac asked, his expression showing shock and admiration.

Anastasia shrugged helplessly, continuing to watch the slaughter in front of her. She turned alarmed however when she realized he was torching the stack of Stark Industries weapons she had noticed when scoping out the area.

She quickly smacked Isaac's arm. "Is he gonna…"

The rest of her question went unspoken as the weapons cashe exploded. Isaac tackled her to the ground while she threw a portal under them. They flew out the other side as the explosion expanded, the two of them now a safe hundred feet away.

Isaac slowly lifted himself off her back and rolled onto his side, Anastasia copying his movements. The two of them stared at each other in shock for ten seconds before having to duck back down when something crashed down ten feet away from them.

They lifted their heads and scrambled to their feet when they realized it was Stark. They rushed over to him, all the while ignoring their other teammates shouting at them over the comm.

Anastasia skidded to a halt a foot away from the barely conscious billionaire, Isaac right next to her. She slowly crouched next to him, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. His eyes flew open and stared at her dazedly.

"Mr. Stark," Anastasia soothingly spoke. "We're going to take you home."

He stared at the two of them for a second longer before finally succumbing to his concussion.

-END CHAPTER-

 **Welcome to my new story! Hero's for Hire will be about five kids who have been used and abused by society and thusly decide to use their abilities for profit. To charge people who want to use their power.**

 **They do so until they get a call from one Colonel James Rhodes, a desperate man willing to do just about anything to get his best friend back.**

 **They accept and that's where our story begins.**

 **Who are the five kids you ask? Well, here's a quick explanation.**

 **Anastasia O'Conner: Half Russian, Half Irish. She's an 8 year old fiery blond with violet eyes and a penchant for trouble matched only by her unsatisfiable curiosity. Luckily her powers are usually able to get her out of most of the trouble she gets into. Her ability is the power to make portals that can take her anywhere in the world with a flick of her wrist if she can picture it in her mind. She also has a magical top hat, that she can't remember where she got, that when she puts it on a glamor covers her to conceal her identity. It turns her hair short and purple while changing her clothes into a black long sleeve shirt, black tactical pants, steel toe combat boots and a dark purple suit jacket with a slight trail. Her parents gave her over to the KGB when she was only two once they saw what she could do. She escaped after two years of constantly being a lab rat. She met Zane and Naomi two and a half years later. Her codename is Mad Hatter.**

 **Isaac Jackson: 3/4** **ths** **American 1/4** **th** **Cuban, he was raised in Tallahassee, Florida. He's fluent in both English and Spanish and has no qualms about cursing you out in either. His power is Light Manipulation, allowing him to seemingly disappear. At the age of seven he was an up and coming mixed martial artist when his powers kicked in during a mock fight when his opponent took things a little too seriously. Everyone saw and proceeded to freak out, calling him a 'monster' and 'freak' including his parents. He ran away from home and lived on the streets, stealing what he could. Naomi found him a year later curled up in a dishwasher box hiding during a rainstorm. Skip two years, he's a ten year old skilled in the art of stealth and doesn't mind getting his hands dirty occasionally by beating somebody up. His codename is Reaper.**

 **Mia Ford: A native of Northern California, Mia was used to hippies and weird people. Then she turned five and was suddenly able to electrocute people. Her parents having died when she was young, Mia knew if she stayed in the foster system she'd be in a lot of trouble, so she bailed. She learned how to hack proficiently by the age of seven which introduced Mia to Zane who offered her a place with him, Naomi, Anastasia and Isaac. She's sweet and innocent unless you piss her off, then she's liable to freeze you out of your bank accounts and set the I.R.S on your ass. She's the groups communications liaison and coordinator. Her codename is Command.**

 **Zane Sheppard: He's the oldest at twelve and accepts reluctant responsibility over his ragtag team of prepubescent kids. He has super strength and the power of flight which he got from being experimented on by a company called I.G.H when he was six after he was in an elevator accident. He escaped when he was seven and searched for his mother, his only relative, only to find that she had committed suicide after he was pronounced 'dead' by the hospital. He ran away from his home state of Missouri and has never looked back. He met Naomi three months later in Arkansas and the two have stayed together. He's the leader of the group and is fiercely protective over all of them. His codename is Guardian.**

 **Naomi Donovan: She's Zane's second in command and the second oldest at eleven. She lived in Oklahoma all her life until her powers kicked in. Her ability is control over ice and water to a lesser extent. She accidently gave a neighborhood friend hypothermia and when faced with a town full people angry and disgusted with her, she ran. Two months later she met Zane in Arkansas and agreed to become partners. Not only is she proficient in MMA, she's a seasoned gymnast. She's warm, sarcastic and motherly. If you piss her off or hurt her new family, prepare to die. Her codename is Blizzard.**

 **What's my plan for the story? I want to 'fix' things in the MCU that I didn't like and overall just get more** _ **involved**_ **in the fandom. This is going to be a Peter Parker/OC story but it's not going to take over the story, nor will it be the** _ **entire**_ **story. There will be more young heroes joining this team, they will be OC's too but it will come MUCH later in the story.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Switzerland, June 3** **rd** **2008, 9:27am)**

"He looks different." Isaac announced as he stared at the unconscious billionaire.

Anastasia and Mia gave each other exasperated glances. Zane right beside them simply snorted in amusement at the rather obvious statement.

"Of course he looks different." Naomi said, giving Isaac a disbelieving look. "He was held captive for three months. Probably tortured and starved. Who wouldn't look different?"

Isaac sulked as Naomi continued to give him a 'really?' look. Isaac turned his head away from them and continued to stare at their 'guest'. Anastasia had to agree with Isaac though, Stark really did look different.

His hair was longer than she had ever seen it on T.V and magazines, his skin was a sickly pale color and he had some sort of battery in his chest. They had all elected not to touch it, lest they blow themselves up.

Mia had already called their doctor friend who Anastasia had picked up. Amelia 'Amy' Fuentes, a twenty seven year old former army doctor, had met Isaac while in Italy when she found him in an alley after he got shot in the thigh by a gangbanger. After meeting the rest of the team and realizing that they wouldn't go back to their families or foster care she told them to call her whenever they needed medical attention. She'd been their 'official' doctor since.

Right now, she was bent over Stark's chest checking his vitals.

"How is he?" Zane asked, leaning against the wall.

"He's alive, for now." Amy sighed, moving back from her patient. "He needs real medical attention soon though."

Naomi gained a concerned look. "How soon?"

"In the next couple hours, or he might not make it. I still can't tell what thing in his chest is or what it's supposed to do but it's helping his body keep him alive." The doctor informed them grimly.

Zane clenched his jaw and nodded. "Alright, Hatter, go get Rhodes. Bring him here. I want Stark to have a familiar face if he wakes up."

Anastasia gave a thumbs up and threw a quick portal. Naomi stepped up next her, making it clear she was coming as well. The two girls lept through the glowing purple hole, their feet landing on pavement.

Anastasia looked around and was surprised to see the person she was supposed to pick up was pacing up and down the alley they were in frantically.

"Colonel Rhodes?" Naomi called out to him.

He whipped around to them and Anastasia flinched slightly when she saw how wide and desperate they looked. He sprinted over to them, nearly running them over in his panic.

"I got your message. It said you have Tony!?" the words spilled out of him almost as if he couldn't control it.

"Yes, we do. He's in bad shape though. We have a doctor looking him over now." Anastasia said, hoping to sooth some of his worry.

His muscles relaxed slightly the moment she confirmed that they had him. "Where is he now?" the colonel questioned them.

"Switzerland," Naomi supplied him. "We have a safe house there."

"Take me to him." Rhodes demanded, looking ready to go to war if they said no.

Anastasia nodded in acceptance of the demand. "Of course, just follow us."

She turned and flicked her wrist, a portal instantly opening up. Naomi stepped through first to show Rhodes that it was safe. Anastasia stared at him, patiently waiting for him to step through. He stared at the portal for a few seconds before swallowing roughly, stepping through it. Anastasia followed a second later.

 _OoOoOoOo_

Stark, it seemed, had returned to the land of the living while Anastasia had been picking up Rhodes. Rhodes had quickly ran to his best friends side and hugged him gently, Stark returning it the best he could.

Afterwards they explained what happened after he passed out and about how they got him from Afghanistan to Switzerland without anybody knowing. He was as impressed as a concussed genus could be.

"Thank you, Blondie" Stark rasped out. "I would be unconscious in a desert if it weren't for you and Ghost Boy."

Anastasia rolled her eyes at the nickname while Isaac snickered in approval. "We were just doing what Colonel Rhodes asked of us." Anastasia said firmly.

"Still, I want to thank you for getting me out of that godforsaken place." Stark insisted.

"Technically, you're the one who'll be paying us, Mr. Stark." Zane said, eyeing him curiously. "That'll be thanks enough."

Stark hummed in thought for a moment. "How much am I paying you for saving my life exactly?" He asked.

"Half a million." Mia answered.

Stark raised a surprised eyebrow. "Half a million? Really? I'm worth billions and that's all you asked for?"

The five kids glanced around each other and shrugged, Mia answering the question once again. "That's our usual price for rescuing people. Besides the Feds would flag any transaction bigger than that."

"Huh," Stark said, looking surprised. "What if I had been dead when you got to me?"

A somber mood flowed over the room at that question.

"We would have returned your body and walked away. We don't accept money for jobs we don't complete." Zane said tightly.

"Why?" Stark prodded further. "It would be easy to just take the money, especially with your youngest's hacking abilities."

"Because," Naomi said. "if we don't have rules and honor, than we're no better than the people who kidnapped you."

Stark studied them all for a minute before slowly nodding his head. "Right, that's a good reason."

Amy abruptly cleared her throat. "Mr. Stark, as nice as it is to see you talking, we _really_ need to get you to a hospital. _Now_."

"Exactly," Rhodes agreed eagerly. "Let's go, Tony."

Stark gave a put upon sigh. "Fine," He agreed begrudgingly before pointing his finger at Zane. "But I want your team's number. Give it."

Zane gave an amused smirk before inclining his head towards Rhodes. "The colonel has our number. Just, please don't get kidnapped again."

Stark huffed in annoyance. "Smartass," He grumbled.

Zane simply smiled at the teasing insult before turning to Anastasia. "Take them to our usual hospital."

Anastasia gave a sloppy salute and carelessly flicked her wrist again, a portal opening up behind Stark's bed/gurney. She skipped over to the head of the gurney and began releasing the locks on the wheels.

"Amy, can you go with them?" Zane asked their medical professional next.

"Where else am I going to go?" She raised her eyebrow at him.

Zane shook his head, not taking the bait. "Be gone with you, all _four_ of you." He gave Rhodes a reassuring look when he looked panicked at the idea of being separated from his best friend.

"Are you sure you're only twelve?" Stark inquired with a mystified look on his face.

"Positive," Zane answered, hiding a smile.

"Let's go," Amy interrupted with a slight glare. "We don't have all day."

"We're going!" Anastasia exclaimed from her position at the foot of Stark's gurney. "We're waiting on you!"

"Yeah, Doc," Stark instantly joined with a mischievous look. "Just waiting on you."

She gave them a look before grabbing hold of the railing on the gurney, pulling it into the portal. Anastasia and Rhodes following behind.

 _OoOoOo_

 _(Time skip - Two Hours - )_

Anastasia hopped through the portal after dropping Amy back at her house. She popped her back and started walking to the dining room.

Stark was getting looked at by professionals at Berlin Medical with his best friend hovering over him like mother hen. Suffice to say, her and her teams job was done.

Mia lifted her head when she heard Anastasia enter the room.

"Hey, how'd it go?" the small brunette asked.

"He'll be for about two days getting MRI's and various X-Rays but preliminary report shows he's gonna be fine."

Mia gave a relived sigh. "That's good news at least."

"Yup." Anastasia said, popping the P. "What's for breakfast?" She abruptly changed the subject.

Mia didn't even blink. "Pancakes."

Anastasia stopped and slowly turned. "Naomi's the one cooking, right?"

"You really think she'll let anyone else do it?" Mia said amusedly.

Anastasia tilted her head in thought and conceded. "Fair point. Do you know when it's supposed to be?"

Mia shrugged. "Naomi said she'd make it soon."

"Okay," Anastasia said, rubbing her eyes. "Wake me up when it's time to eat, please?"

"You got it." Mia said, returning to her laptop.

Anastasia stumbled into her room and collapsed on her bed, passing out instantly.

-END CHAPTER-

 **My OC's appearances.**

 **(1) Anastasia O'Conner-**

 **Hair: Honey Blonde, Mid back, Curly**

 **Eyes: Violet**

 **Skin: Pale**

 **Height: 4'5**

 **(2) Isaac Jackson-**

 **Hair: Black, Short, Straight**

 **Eyes: Hazel**

 **Skin: Tan**

 **Height: 5'1**

 **(3) Mia Ford-**

 **Hair: Light Brown, Shoulder, Wavy**

 **Eyes: Green**

 **Skin: Ivory**

 **Height: 4'2**

 **(4) Zane Sheppard-**

 **Hair: Black, Short, Straight**

 **Eyes: Blue**

 **Skin: Tan**

 **Height: 5'5**

 **(5) Naomi Donovan-**

 **Hair: Dirty Blonde, Chin, Straight**

 **Eyes: Brown**

 **Skin: Pale**

 **Height: 5'5**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Paris, France, July 8** **th** **2008, 2:09pm)**

Anastasia stretched out on towel, soaking up the sun. Issac and Mia were in the pool three feet to her left having splash war. Naomi and Zane were inside, searching for their next job, the pair of buzzkills that they were.

It had been over a month since the Stark job and they hadn't heard from Stark or Colonel Rhodes since. The only contact they had was when the money transfer came through. Twice.

Instantly they had called Stark, not wanted to cheat him out of his money via relief high. Mia, when she called, had been directed to someone named Jarvis and was pleasantly told that Mr. Stark was immensely grateful for their timely rescue and that if they ever needed anything then they only needed to call.

That had shocked the hell out of everybody.

Still, they had tried to give back the money to Stark and he refused it again. So they all decided to put the extra half a million dollars to charity. Five different foster homes in Switzerland suddenly got new clothes, books and bedding from a mysterious benefactor overnight right before the five of them left.

All of that was the reason it was so surprising when Naomi walked out and told them. "Mr. Stark wants to talk with us."

Isaac and Mia stopped splashing each other and stared at the second oldest child. Anastasia paused in her tanning and raised her sunglasses as she sat up.

"Why would Stark want to talk to us now?" Isaac asked in a confused voice as he shared a look with Mia.

Naomi helplessly shrugged, throwing her hands up. "I don't know, he wont tell us until we're all together. So, get outta the pool and come inside."

She turned and walked back inside when she saw Mia and Isaac pulling themselves out of the water. Anastasia rolled to her feet and grabbed her sundress, throwing it on while speed walking through the door.

"What could Stark possibly want to talk about?" Mia asked as she came up on Anastasia's left side, Isaac appearing on her right.

"Maybe it's about the guys who kidnapped him?" Anastasia suggested. "I mean, if _I_ were kidnapped and rescued, I would want to know everything about my captors."

Isaac and Mia both nodded, agreeing with her theory as they stepped into their dining room/ control room.

It was a medium sized room, with four complete wall with no windows. One wall had a fairly sized door leading into a decent kitchen that was rarely if ever used by anyone other than Naomi. Three thirty five inch screens were hung on one wall, facing the kitchen door. A seven foot long desk sat under it, stacked high with files and photographs. The other two walls were barren completely except for one lone overstuffed file cabinet.

They had a big table in the middle of the room, it being big enough to fit eight adults comfortably, surrounded by eight amazingly comfortable and expensive office chairs.

Sitting in one of them was, leaning back with his legs kicked up, was Tony Stark.

Anastasia slowly stepped into the room and eyed the man she'd last seen looking like death warmed over a month ago. His hair was freshly cut and washed, his facial hair well-groomed as well. He wore a black sports coat over an AC/DC shirt with what looked like old oil stains covering it, paired with black slacks and an old pair of converse.

All in all, he looked exactly like Tony Stark again. Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist.

"You look good for a battery in his chest, Mr. Stark." Mia said warily, sitting down in one of the office chairs next to Zane, who was silently observing the billionaire.

Stark smiled tightly. "Thanks, Cupcake."

Mia frowned at the nickname but didn't comment, seeming to resolve to let him speak.

Stark cleared his throat nervously and drummed his fingers on the table. "I guess, I'll cut right to the chase. I, uh, would like to put you five on retainer for Stark Industries."

Silence reigned for a few seconds before Naomi spoke up. "On retainer for what?" she asked in a slightly confused voice. "To rescue you when you inevitably get kidnapped again?"

"And isn't it illegal to hire anyone under the age of sixteen in the U.S?" Issac tackled on.

Stark shifted uncomfortably as he nodded, "Yes, if that happens you would get me back. And none of you would officially be on the payroll, at least not until you're all eighteen. There would also be another part to the job."

"Which is?" Zane asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Helping me track down shipments of SI weapons illegally being sold to terrorists. The same terrorists that kidnapped me." Stark said with a wrathful look in his eye.

"What?" Anastasia asked in a shocked voice. "Stark Industries sold weapons to the same…?"

Stark grimly nodded his head. It was extremely obvious to Anastasia that he had no idea what his company had been doing and was _severely_ pissed off at what he knew now.

"Who did it?" Naomi questioned suddenly. "Who sold the weapons, _your_ weapons, to those assholes?"

"I don't have solid proof yet," Stark admitted sullenly. "But I suspect Obadiah Stane has something to do with it."

Anastasia frowned at the name, it seemed oddly familiar. The only thing she was certain of was that it related to what they had on the terrorists who kidnapped Stark.

"That name sounds familiar." Mia mumbled as she got up and walked to the desk, pulling out a wireless keyboard and began tapping on it.

"He runs my company for me," Stark said with a bemused expression. "Of course you've heard his name."

"No, that's not it." Anastasia said, staring at the screens on the wall as digital files were pulled up, Mia hunting down whatever she was searching for. "I recognize it too, and not from anything to do with SI."

"Hatter, what are you talking about?" Zane asked.

"I don't remember in what context he knew them but I know Stane had some sort of connection with Stark's kidnappers." Anastasia bit her lip as she stared harder at the computer screens, hoping Mia could find the connection.

"Wait, you think he knew them? Why would Obadiah know them?" Stark asked in an almost frantic tone.

"I don't k-" Anastasia started to say again before being cut off by Mia.

"Found it!" Everyone crowded around Mia as she pointed at the middle screen. "He both sent and received a number of emails to and from an encrypted email address. He's the one who's sent most of the emails between the two of them, though."

"Can you see who's email it is?" Naomi asked her.

Mia shook her head. "Not right now, this guy is well versed in hacking. I'm gonna need a day or two to crack his encryption."

"Do it," Zane told her before turning to face Stark. "The rest of us are going to hunt for some _physical_ evidence."

Stark eyed him curiously. "Does this mean you're accepting my offer?"

Zane took a deep breath and nodded, holding out his hand to shake. "Congratulations, Mr. Stark. It would appear we're in business together, for now at least."

Stark stared at his hand for a moment before accepting the handshake, the two pulling away after a couple seconds.

"We'll see about a more permanent job later. For now, lets go get that evidence you mentioned earlier."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Malibu, California, July 9th, 12:23am)**

"Mr. Stark, you're certifiably insane." Naomi said, staring at him in disapproval.

Stark frowned instantly, not liking the fact that he was being scolded by an eleven-year-old. "How dare you." he grumbled. "I illegally employ you, bring you to my mansion and this is the thanks I get?"

Zane snorted next to Naomi. "We weren't exactly in a sewer, Mr. Stark. We were in Paris."

Stark waved away Zane's (quite valid) statement and continued showing them his metal death trap, sorry _suit_ (the repulsers as Stark called them anyway.). Anastasia ignored him and continued poking around his workshop as Stark explained his invention to a bemused Zane and Naomi. Isaac and Mia had already disappeared, presumably to the kitchen if Isaac's whining early was anything to go off of.

After the bomb being dropped that Obadiah Stane _had_ been in communication with Stark's kidnappers, Zane and Stark had quickly figured out an agreement. Stark would keep them on retainer in exchange for them getting protection from the various governments that were on the look out for them as well as guaranteed jobs if they ever wanted out of the 'mercenary' lifestyle. Stark had readily agreed and even threw in a permanent place to live.

After they got that worked out, everyone quickly rushed to Malibu so that their plan could be set in motion, Stark having to do some hasty maneuvering so that his scarily smart PA wouldn't find the five kids.

While Stark flew back to Malibu on a his very nice private jet, Anastasia portaled her and her teammates to Venice where they waited until Stark touched down and managed to find a way to sneak them into his mansion. Since then, Zane, Naomi and Stark had been strategizing while the rest of them snooped around Stark's luxurious lifestyle, attempting to find any bugs or wire taps Obadiah Stane may have left. So far Isaac had managed to find one hidden in Stark's security lock to his private lab.

Stark had been _furious_. And the team wasn't exactly happy either, it meant that Stane wouldn't go down as easily as they hoped.

"So," Anastasia spoke up, finally bored with her snooping. "Why are we here for your test exactly?"

"Because if something goes wrong Sheppard can catch me or you can portal me to something comfy to land on, Blondie." Stark said snootily.

Zane gave a blank face at that statment. "Right, so how high a chance is there that this won't work?"

Stark made an 'eh' gesture. "About 30 percent."

"Great," Zane said dryly. "Just how I wanted to spend my afternoon."

With a sigh he floated in the air, moving so that he was near Stark. Their employer gave the twelve-year-old a grin before clapping his hands together.

"Let's get started."

Anastasia traded dubious looks with Naomi but didn't say anything.

Stark pointed at one of his robots and started speaking.

"Day eleven, test thirty seven, configuration two-point-oh. For lack of a better option, Dum-E is still on fire safety." Here he pointed at said robot. "If you dosue me again and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college."

The robot made a saddened sound but Stark ignored it. Anastasia snickered at Stark's words. Who knew pieces of technology were so emotional?

"All right, nice and easy." Stark said, sounding a bit nervous. "Seriously, just gonna start off with one percent thrust capacity."

He put his hands out slightly in front of him, aimed at the ground. Anastasia leaned forward slightly, curious as a cat. Naomi grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her two steps back as Stark counted down.

"And three, two, one." The repulsers turned on, lifting the billionaire off the floor a few feet.

The two girls stared in surprise. It worked, and it didn't blow up! Zane was just as impressed, unfolding his arms from the disinterested pose he had out them in. Stark had a dazed look on his face, as if he couldn't believe he was in the air as well. Zane moved slightly closer, his arms spread out as if ready to grab Stark in an instant.

Stark wobbled in the air for a few seconds, looking slightly panicked as he moved around a bit. Zane placed his hands on genius's biceps and held him in place. Stark steadied himself with Zane's help before landing smoothly on the ground, a loud _thunk!_ resounding throughout the room.

Zane slowly let go, looking impressed as he did. Stark nodded to himself then spun around to face the fire extinguisher-holding robot.

"Please don't follow me around with it either, cause I feel like I'm gonna catch on fire spontaneously. Just stand down, if something happens then come in. And again, let's bring it up to two-point-five." Stark readied himself again. Anastasia subtly portaled in an old mattress in the corner, just in case.

"Three, two, one." Stark quickly counted down, shooting back into the air again. Zane rose with him, making sure he didn't wobble too much. Stark moved around the room this time, drifting over his _very nice and expensive_ cars. Stark hastily moved away from the cars, muttering 'no' and 'not over here'. Zane diligently kept their boss from wrecking his stuff, manhandling him this way and that way until finally they landed back at their starting point.

"Oh, yeah," Stark smirked. "I can fly."


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: So, I've had these chapters sitting and gathering dust for the last couple months. I figured what the hell, I'll turn this into a drabble kind of situation. Meaning I'm not going to be posting these chapters in any sort of order. I'm just posting them because I'm sick of them just sitting when they're completely ready to go. So, enjoy?**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Hells Kitchen, New York City, Heroes For Hire Office, September 13th 2016, 6:03am)**

Anastasia stared at Zane in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me."

Zane raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Anastasia gawked at him.

"You're not kidding." she said in shock.

"Nope." the twenty-year-old looked downright _amused_ at this point. Anastasia scowled darkly.

"You're sending _me,_ the girl who once punched out a senior when I was twelve, to go to high school." she said, staring at her leader like he was insane. Which he was.

Zane sighed, the amused look fading into an exhausted one. "Look, Hatter, this Parker kid is gonna get himself killed if someone doesn't teach him how to be discreet. He's already gotten caught on multiple CCTV cameras with his mask off. He's lucky that Mia made a program to erase any image that pops up with his face in it when Spider-Man is involved."

Anastasia put her face in her hands, collapsing further into her chair . "Oh my god, you cannot be serious. Why can't one of the others do it?"

"Because," Zane said through gritted teeth. "Chloe is with Laura helping out with the new baby. Naomi took Faith and Lucas out to train, and Isaac is out on a job right now. And before you even ask, Mia's going to be monitoring this mission from here."

"Great, so I'm the only one who can do this." she finished the sentence with a groan.

"Exactly," Zane said. "and Tony is too caught up in his _own_ life to worry about whatever the hell this kid is up to. If we don't watch out for him, we're going to have a dead spiderling on our hands."

She rubbed her hands over her face for a second before tilting her head up to look at the black haired boy seated across from her. "Fine," she sighed. "I'll do it. When do I start?"

Zane gave a tired smirk. "In an hour. I've already got your backpack set up for you in the hallway closet and the school is expecting you."

Anastasia blinked rapidly, her tired mind working sluggishly through the sudden influx of information. Then she understood and started glaring daggers at Zane. "You bastard."

Zane's smirk widened. "I'd start hurrying, Hatter. You don't want to be late for school, now do you?"

 _OoOoOoOoOo_

After scrambling to get ready, Anastasia had made it to Midtown School of Science and Technology with twenty minutes to spare. Thank god for her portals, otherwise she never would have made it.

Already she hated this school. She'd almost gotten run over by some idiot with a 'fancy' car, had gotten lost _twice_ trying to find the office, then spent ten minutes convincing the secretary that she would be fine and would she please just go get her schedule? Now she was just waiting for her tour guide to show up.

She already knew who it was going to be, the person she's supposed to be protecting. Peter Benjamin Parker, fifteen, lives with his aunt, and his best friend is one Ned Leeds. He spends way too much time on the internet and seems to have no sense of awareness whatsoever.

She already disliked him. Especially because he was already late.

Anastasia leaned against the wall outside of the office and crossed one ankle over the other, settling in to wait for him. She dropped her head against the wall and heaved a sigh. This was definitely not how she thought her day was going to go. Zane, the asshole that he was, had waited to tell her until she couldn't back out even if she wanted too, which she did. A lot.

She wasn't made to be around other teenagers, they were too preppy and stupid. Anastasia had gotten the stupid beaten out of her a long time ago. The kids were innocent of everything, never really looking past themselves and what they needed. She hardly ever focused on herself, she had far too many problems to deal with to waste time focusing all of her attention on herself.

"Sorry!" a voice called out from down the hall. "I came as fast as I could."

Anastasia glanced over the boy rushing toward her. He had curly brown hair, expressive brown eyes and a smallish statue. He couldn't be more than five foot eight. He was dressed in a simple flannel, a pair of jeans, and tennis shoes with a backpack thrown over his shoulder. He came to an abrupt halt in front of her, staring at her without saying anything.

She knew why. She wasn't exactly dressed like everybody else in the school she had seen so far. She wore a burgundy tank top that hugged her curves and showed off a tiny bit of her stomach paired with tight black jeans and almost knee high black boots with buckles going across the ankles. She had a dark purple bandana hanging out of one of her back pockets with her backpack by her feet and her black messenger bag hitched up high on her shoulder.

All in all, she _definitely_ didn't look like a nerd.

After more than five seconds had passed without him saying anything, she arched her eyebrow. "And you are?"

He seemingly snapped out of his shocked state and started stuttering out his name. "I-I-I'm Parker, Peter. I mean, Peter Parker!" the poor boy blushed hard, ducking his head to stare at his feet.

'Huh,' she thought to herself, regarding his skittish form curiously. 'who knew that the _famous_ _Spider_ - _Man_ was nervous talking to girls?' She shook her head slightly and pushed herself off of the wall.

"I'm Anastasia O'Conner." she said, holding out her hand as a playful smirk came across her lips. "It's nice to meet you, Peter."

Peter hesitantly lifted his head and blinked in shock at her hand, not making any move to take it. Anastasia's amusement finally overpowered her annoyance as she watched the teenager in front of her hesitantly take her hand. She clasped his hand lightly, shaking it before letting go. Noting with some mirth that his hand was slightly clammy, she started asking him questions.

"So, you're my tour guide?" she questioned, a small smirk on her face.

Peter gulped lightly before nodding. "Y-yeah, I am. Because you have most of the same classes I do."

Her lips twitched into an actual smile for a second before moving back into a smirk. "Weeeeeeell, can you show me to my first class then? Cause I think we're about to be late."

His eyes drifted to his watch before widening comically. "Right, what's your first class?"

She glanced at the schedule in her hand as she picked up her backpack. "English."

"Okay," Peter breathed a sigh of relief. "that's my first class too. Follow me."

The two of them took off down the hallway, racing toward their English class. As they ran, Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle. 'I think I might be able to have some fun with this.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Midtown School of Science and Technology, New York, September 13th 2016, 1:15pm)**

The new girl baffled Peter.

She was spunky and sarcastic. She was wearing clothes that he had _never_ seen anyone in this school wear before and he was fairly certain that she was flirting with him just to screw with him.

Flash had already met her and predictably started hitting on her only for the blonde to insult his height and nickname ("Did they give you that nickname because of how fast you _finish_?"). Flash had walked away with his tail between his legs while everyone gawked at the new girl. She had simply kicked her legs up onto her desk and smirked, fiddling with her dark purple bandana.

The thing was, despite the teasing, she was nice to him. Instead of being cold and rude like he thought she would be like, she was warm and funny, asking him about the school and what his school experience was like so far. Who were the good teachers and who were the absolute worst ones. He was kinda blown away.

Now it was time for lunch and she was actual sitting down to eat with _Peter and Ned_.

The two boys stared at her in shock while she unpacked her lunch (PB&J with a bag of potato chips and an apple along with a cherry coke) and started eating. After a minute she sighed and picked her head up, returning their stare with an unimpressed look.

"Are you two going to keep staring at me or are you gonna eat?" she asked, arching her eyebrow.

Peter flushed and looked down at his own lunch sheepishly. Ned just shook his head and asked the burning question Peter had been wanting to ask all day.

"Why are you sitting with us?" Ned asked bluntly.

Anastasia munched on a potato chip. "Am I not supposed too?"

"But," Ned said. "We're losers."

Anastasia pushed her lunch away and crossed her arms. "As far as I can tell, the two of you are the furthest thing. You get good grades, you're nice and polite, not to mention you haven't once commented on my appearance even though I've seen the both of you checking me out. In my opinion, that makes you both upstanding members of society, _not_ losers." with that she picked up her sandwich and took a bite out of it.

Peter's jaw dropped as he processed what she said. 'How can a girl like her _not_ think we're losers?' Peter shared a wide eyed look with Ned as the blonde ignored them in favor for her neglected food. Eventually the two boys started eating, making slow conversation about the Star Wars model they were in the middle of making.

 _OoOoOoOoOoOo_

It was the end of the day and Peter was still shocked. He'd shown Anastasia around all day, taking her to her classes and introducing her to the teachers, all of whom liked her after watching her in class. Even Ned said good things about her, when Peter had passed her off to his best friend for a class since the two of them were in the same class while Peter had different one. According to Ned she had struck up a conversation about Star Trek with him and the pros and cons about being on the Enterprise.

Now the three of them were walking out the doors as Anastasia finished telling them a story about her uncle and brother.

"Yeah, Uncle Tony is a massive engineering geek along with my brother Isaac. The two of them were rebuilding an old motorcycle for Isaac and somehow managed to blow it up. I don't know they managed it but they did it at three in the morning and had everyone jumping out of their beds wondering what the hell had happened." she laughed, tossing her blonde hair back with a casual flick.

Peter laughed along with her, unconsciously studying her small smile. 'She's beautiful.' he thought absentmindedly as she finished her story. They stopped when they reached the sidewalk outside the front of the school.

"Okay, well, I'll see you guys tomorrow." the violet eyed girl said, giving them one last smirk.

"W-wait," Peter stuttered in surprise. "You actually want to keep hanging out with us?"

"Yeaaah?" she said, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Why?" he asked, totally shocked.

She studied him for a second before giving him a soft smile. "Because I like the two of you."

Before either boy could reply she turned and started walking opposite of the way Peter and Ned lived, throwing a "See ya!" over her shoulder as she disappeared into the crowd of kids getting out of school. Ned and Peter stood side by side as they stared after her, mouths open.

"She likes us." Peter said in disbelief. "A girl like her doesn't think we're losers."

"She's hot," Ned blurted out.

Peter nodded, dazed. "Yeah, she is."

His best friend looked at him accusingly. "You totally like-like her, dude."

"What!" Peter squeaked, whipping his head toward his best friend. "No, I don't! I've known her for half a day."

Ned gave him a 'really' look. "You've admitted that she's pretty, you blush every time she looks at you for more than a second, and you haven't stopped staring at her all day."

"I-I-I, uh," Peter fumbled for words. "I don't like her! At least, not like that! She's just...weird is all."

"Riiiiiiiight," Ned said skeptically.

Peter huffed. "Come on, man, lets go."

The two boys walked away, completely oblivious to the fact that Mia and Zane could still hear them thanks to the bug that Anastasia had planted in Peter's hoodie.

 _OoOoOoOoOoOo_

Mia and Zane smirked at each other as they heard the conversation between the two best friends.

"So," Zane said, amused. "the little spider has a crush on our portal jumper. That's going to be fun to watch."

"You're not gonna intervene, right, Zane?" Mia asked him, narrowing her eyes. "Because if you get in-between them, I can and will get Naomi and Pepper on your ass. Leave them alone."

Zane instantly scowled at the threat of both his fiancé _and_ surrogate mother. "No, I'm not getting involved. Faith is the matchmaker on this team, not me."

"Hey," Mia defended her best friend. "She got you and Naomi together, didn't she?"

Zane nodded his head. "Fair enough,"

The front door suddenly opened and Anastasia's voice sounded throughout the office. "I hate high school!"

The two conspirators laughed under their breath and walked out of the control room, headed toward the kitchen where the portal jumper was bound to be. Predictably she was seated on the counter with a bag of Doritos in hand. Zane shook his head as he chuckled, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge.

"And why, pray tell, do you hate high school?" Zane asked, twisting open his water and taking a sip.

"Everybody's whiney and insecure, constantly pushing down others to make themselves feel good, and to top it all off they're all going at it like rabbits! It's horrible!" Anastasia instantly ranted, waving her Doritos bag around as she spoke.

Mia snickered as she hopped up on the counter beside the blonde, stealing the bag of chips. "You make it sound like you had a completely terrible time, Parker and Leeds didn't seem that bad."

Anastasia inclined her head, submitting to the hackers point. "True, but everyone else was an idiot. Especially that Flash kid, who _allows_ people to call them Flash? It's the dumbest nickname I've ever heard of."

Zane laughed. "You definitely sent him packing though. I mean, that was borderline cruel, O'Conner."

Anastasia waved his statement away. "He had it coming, hitting on me like that."

The three of them laughed, happily talking amongst themselves as they unwound with each other.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Queens, New York, September 13th 2016 , 7:48pm)**

Peter Parker was an idiot. Plain and simple.

Anastasia had been watching him for three hours now and the boy had caused more chaos than he had stopped. He stopped a burglar attempting to rob a convenience store only to trip the alarm _himself_ and almost got smacked with a baseball bat from the angry store owner. He'd gotten chewed out by a young mother for scaring her and almost causing her to drop her two year old child. Not to mention he managed to break a fire hydrant, _somehow_.

It was frightening how clumsy this fifteen year old with superpowers was.

Now she was watching him stop an attempted mugging. The unfortunate victim, a girl in her twenties from the looks of it, was pressed up between the alley wall and a dumpster. The two men that had tried to mug her were both fairly big, both pushing six feet and probably weighing close to two hundred pounds. One had a tattoo of a fly on his cheek while the other had very intense eyebrow piercings. They loomed over their victim menacingly, a sharp knife appearing in the hands of the tattooed guy.

Anastasia crouched on a nearby rooftop, waiting to see how the spider handled the two men before she jumped in to help. She was already dressed in her suit, a black tank top under her dark purple suit jacket paired with black tactical pants and black steal-toed boots. Her rings decorated her hands, glittering in the artificial light the lamppost gave off. Her top hat sat comfortably on her currently purple head, a black domino mask hiding her features.

Spider-Man landed silently behind the would-be muggers, clearing his throat loudly. The two men whipped around in a panic, looking around before spotting the red-and-blue dressed vigilante. Eyebrows, as Anastasia dubbed him, scoffed and nudged his partner, Tattoo Guy, with a grin.

"Look, man, the itsy bitsy spider came out to play." Eyebrows said mockingly.

Spider-Man ignored him in favor of saying his own quip. "Don't you two know that you should never hurt a lady?"

Tattoo Guy waved his knife around threateningly. "Get outta here, punk. Before I make you regret it."

"Sorry, can't do that." Spider-Man stepped forward. "I'd put the knife down before you get hurt though."

"And who's gonna make me? You?" Tattoo Guy sneered.

Anastasia had enough. She was bored as hell and wanted to punch the crap out of somebody. These jokers would do just fine.

She wriggled her fingers and stepped through the portal she created, suddenly looking at the backs of the muggers. Spider-Man's pure white eye things widened at the sight of her, taking half a step back in surprise.

Before the idiot criminals could react she kicked one in the back of the knee, elbowing the other in the ribs. She moved to stand on front of them, quickly kneeing Eyebrows in the face which knocked him out cold. She then grabbed Tattoo Guy by the collar and punched in the face three times, twisting the knife out of his grip as well. She finally knocked him out too with a kick to the face, breaking his nose as a result.

The girl shimmed her way out of her hiding spot, thanking Anastasia before bolting out of the alley. Anastasia put her hands on her hips and looked over at Peter, who was still staring at her in shock.

A teasing smile came across her lips. "You gonna say anything, bug boy?"

The vigilante straightened up at the name. "It's Spider-Man! And I had that you know."

"I know," she shrugged. "but I was bored."

"Y-you were bored?" he squeaked.

"Yup." she said, popping the p. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed loudly. "You don't just save someone cause you're _bored_!"

"Oh really now?" she asked in amusement. "Why not?"

"B-b-because, uh, yo-you," he flailed, desperately trying to find the words. "You just don't, okay?"

Anastasia shook her head with a sigh. 'I have so much work to do with him.' she thought as she walked toward him, circling him as she looked him up and down. The teenage boy fidgeted nervously as he watched her.

"What are you doing?" he asked, swallowing thickly.

"Looking at you." she answered as she came to a stop in front of him a foot away. "You need work."

Peter recoiled at those words. "Excuse me?"

"You. Need. Work." she repeated slowly.

"What gives you the right t-, wait." he said, bouncing on his toes suddenly. "You were in Germany! You're the one who made that worm-hole thing that saved Colonel Rhodes!"

"I was," she agreed, amused as all hell. The boy in front of her seemed to vibrate from excitement.

"You're the Mad Hatter! From those Heroes for Hire guys that help the Avengers!" his excitement seemed to grow even more as he realized who she was.

Anastasia nodded at his words. "That's me."

"You're so cool!" the spider gushed. "Are you really her? Are you really able to go anywhere in the world with a flick of your wrist? Is that your natural hair color?"

Anastasia blinked at the sudden spit-fire questions. "Uh, yes I am, yes I can, and no, it's not."

"So cool." he muttered to himself before he seemed to get a handle on his enthusiasm. "Er, not to sound rude, but why are you here?"

"I'm here for you." she answered easily.

"What?" the brunette squeaked again. "Why me?"

She heaved a sigh before bringing her hand to her ear. "Command, is the area clear?" she spoke into her comm.

"You're good to go, Hatter." Mia's voice sounded in her ear.

"Thanks," she replied before focusing back on the confused boy in front of her. She took off her domino mask and then her hat, the glamour falling away to reveal her true features. Peter's masked eyes went wide, mouth no doubt hanging open in shock.

"Hi, Peter." she said, sounding slightly sheepish.

 _OoOoOoOoOoOo_

The spider-ling paced in front of her, mask clutched in one hand while the other ran through his already messy brown hair. She leaned against the wall, watching him work through all the information she had just given him. The poor boy probably just had the shock of his life.

"You're here to babysit me!?" the vigilante cried in outrage, finally spinning around to face her.

Anastasia winced visibly, her mask and hat laid on the ground beside her for the moment. "I wouldn't call it babysitting..."

Peter groaned loudly, burying his face in his palms. "I can't believe Mr. Stark would do this."

"Actually," she corrected him. "he doesn't even know I'm here. Or that my team and I are even watching you."

He lifted his head in confusion, tilting his head in way that reminded Anastasia of a puppy. 'He's too cute.' she thought absentmindedly before instantly shutting down that train of thought. She didn't like him. She didn't!

Now if she could only convince herself of that.

"Then why _are_ you here? Cause if Mr. Stark didn't send you then why...?" he trailed off as she snapped back to reality, confusion still littering across his features.

She sighed and waved him over, moving to sit on the ground. She'd been awake for about sixteen hours now and the tiredness was starting to catch up with her. She'd gotten back from a mission early that morning only to be told that she had to go to school and start a new protective detail on Peter. Said boy was now sitting in front of her, impatiently waiting for his explanation. She sighed heavily and started explaining why.

"Because you're absolutely terrible at being covert." she said bluntly. Peter sputtered indignantly but she talked over him. "You've gotten caught on multiple CCTV cameras with your mask off, you're constantly on your own, _personal_ cell-phone that anyone can steal if they get lucky. You leave your backpacks everywhere, which get stolen a ton. It's a freakin' miracle that nobody has found out who you are."

Peter moved his mouth without any sound coming out. After a minute he slumped his shoulders in defeat, looking glum as he played with his mask. "I had no idea." he muttered quietly, sounding like a scolded child.

Anastasia's heart clenched without her approval when she heard his sad voice. 'Pull yourself together.' she scolded herself. 'You've only known him for a day.' Still, she couldn't help but put her hand out, covering his hand with one of her own. He picked his head up and gave her a wide-eyed look as she let a small smile form on her lips.

"It's okay," she said, squeezing his hand. "That's why I'm here. To teach you how to be like us, and avoid getting found out."

Peter wet his lips nervously. "Do you think that- that I can train with you?"

Her smile got bigger at his question. She let out a laugh as she leaned back, releasing his hand. "Oh, honey," she said, her eyes twinkling madly. "I'm gonna run you into the ground."

 _OoOoOoOoOoOo_

"I told you so." Zane said smugly as he and Mia leaned away from the computer, having just finished listening to the portal jumper's conversation with her new 'student'.

Mia rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do we do now?"

Zane crossed his arms in thought before grinning widely. "We're gonna get Tony and Faith involved."

The twenty-year-old walked out of the room without another word, his intent obvious. Mia glanced at the door warily, wondering just what her leader was going to do. She glanced back at the computer which showed Anastasia and Peter still talking to one another, the blonde seemingly explaining something while Peter listened intently, nodding here and there.

"Sorry, you two." Mia muttered, leaning back in her comfy office chair. "But those three aren't going to quit until the two of you are together."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't care, don't sue.**

 **(Hells Kitchen, New York City, Heroes For Hire Office, September 14th 2016, 2:15am)**

"Stop glaring at me." Zane said, never taking his eyes off the email Naomi had sent him. "You're not gonna change my mind."

Anastasia glared harder. Zane sighed and met her gaze head on, lifting a questioning eyebrow. They held the staring contest for a minute before Anastasia finally snapped after hearing her phone go off for the umpteenth time that morning.

"He won't stop texting me!" the blonde exploded, throwing her phone across the room onto a nearby couch. "He's sent me thirteen texts this morning alone!"

"What did you expect?" Zane replied, going back to his email.

Anastasia tugged on her hair harshly. "For him to take the hint maybe? I get that he's excited about working together but he's _getting on my nerves!_ "

Zane sighed again. "Look, Hatter, he's a newbie and a teenage boy. Of course he's going to annoy you, it's what he's designed to do."

"That's all well and good but the words 'personal space' don't seem to be in his vocabulary." she collapsed into her chair next to him as she flicked her wrist. A portal opened beneath her phone, dropping it into her awaiting palm.

"Sorry, kid," Zane patted her shoulder. "but you're pretty much his handler now. That makes him _your_ responsibility, despite Tony appointing Happy of all people." Zane rolled his eyes at Tony's idiotic decision.

Anastasia huffed but agreed. She rested her head on the back of the couch for a second before climbing to her feet. She grabbed her backpack and put it on her shoulder, muttering a goodbye to her leader as she walked out the door.

Peter Parker was the single most oblivious person she had ever met. After Anastasia told him her identity, and schooled him on how much of an idiot he was, he started yammering on about team-ups and training. It got even worse after he fully realized that she was part of a team, meaning she could introduce him to the other members. At one point he had started _begging_ her to set up a meeting between him and the other members of her team. It weirded her out.

After all, who _wanted_ to meet them? Their work consisted of finding kidnapped people, protecting the odd politician or celebrity, and occasionally helping out the Avengers. Most people didn't even know about them, everyone being too busy focusing on the bigger and flashier Avengers team to notice them.

The last time her team and the Avengers had 'joined forces' had been Ultron. Anastasia had managed to save Pietro Maximoff and Clint Barton from the evil robot shooting at them. The speedster had then gone on to woo their doctor friend, Amy. The two of them had been together for almost three years now and were secretly meeting at the Heroes various safehouses around the world. They were sometimes accompanied by Pietro's twin sister, Wanda, and her boyfriend, Vision.

The only time the two teams had met after that was for the Avengers civil war. The Heroes had been firm in the fact that they would not pick sides not matter what. Not to mention the only reason they had even been at the airport was because they had wanted to try to play the mediators. It didn't turn out well.

Rhodey fell out of the sky and would've been killed if Anastasia hadn't thrown a well timed portal at him, dumping him into Zane's awaiting arms. Isaac's arm had been broken by King T'Challa while Faith had gotten a concussion from Scott Lang, accidently of course. The thief had been horrified when he had later been told that Faith had gotten injured. He had offered Faith a free shot to get back at him.

Zane liked him. Faith thought he was annoying.

Then there was the Heroes part-time member, Hunter Silva otherwise known as Outlaw. He was the only one out of the entire team that had killed someone for a contract. He had only done it once and the person he killed hadn't exactly been a saint. But Zane had regardless told him that if he killed again for a contract the older boy had no problem turning him into the police, or worse S.H.I.E.L.D.

Outlaw hadn't killed again.

All in all, the Heroes For Hire team weren't exactly people that you _wanted_ to meet.

Anastasia stepped out of the portal she had made, ending up two blocks from school. She started walking down the street only to give a shriek as she was grabbed around the waist and pulled into the air.

She quickly noted the red-and-blue suit as she wrapped her arms around her kidnappers neck. Her annoyance turned into anger as the web slinger dropped them onto a nearby roof. She dropped her arms form around his neck as he released his hold on her waist. He pulled off his mask, happy-go-lucky grin already in place.

She slapped him upside the head. _Hard_.

The teenage boy yelped loudly and grabbed the back of his head, staring at her with shock and betrayal. She crossed her arms and _glared_ at him, seething silently. Peter cowered instantly, shuffling a couple steps backward.

"What. The. Hell." she snarled. "You don't just grab me off the street two blocks from school! Actually, you just don't do it period!"

Peter winced as she yelled at him. "I-I'm sorry. I wa-was just excited."

Anastasia stared at him stonily. As she watched his expression crumble further she found her anger mysteriously vanishing. She groaned loudly in defeat, dropping her head into her hands.

"Fine." her voice came out muffled as she spoke. "Just stop looking like I stabbed your puppy."

The vigilante quirked his head in confusion, further solidifying her belief that he was a golden retriever puppy in a humans body. "Okay." he said quietly.

"Just- don't do it again, okay?" she sighed, giving up on her anger completely.

Peter nodded, shuffling his feet awkwardly. Anastasia rolled her eyes at his innocence.

"What were you excited about?" she prompted him, cocking her hip to the side.

Peter's expression lit up. Anastasia felt like she was going to get whiplash from trying to follow his ever-changing emotions. "I wanted to ask if you could introduce me to your team today after school. Can you?" he bounced on his toes, looking happy at the prospect of meeting more vigilante types.

"No." she said bluntly.

"Oh," Peter blinked, expression falling slightly. "why not?"

"Because Longshot is with her family, Blizzard is with Eagle and Agent 17 doing training, Reaper is on a mission, and Command and Guardian are both busy." the portal jumper explained, using everybody's codenames just incase.

Peter nodded intently. "What about that Outlaw guy? And will I ever get to know everyone's names?"

Anastasia shrugged. "Outlaw isn't in the country. He usually shows up if he's bored, in danger, or the-world-is-ending-oh-dear-god type of shit is going down. You'll learn everyone's names when we're sure we can trust you."

Peter stayed quiet as he processed all the information she threw at him before he frowned at her.

"What do you mean 'when we're sure we can trust you'?"

 _OoOoOoOoOoOo_

"I can't believe you think I'm untrustworthy." Peter grumbled for the twelfth time that day.

Anastasia rolled her eyes and ignored him. She had already explained why three times, the brunette just wanted something to complain about apparently. Since Peter abducted her off the street they had since walked to school and gone through their first three classes of the day, Peter constantly bringing up his current issue with her.

"I mean, I've kept my identity a secret for like six months!" Peter continued as they walked to the school library to spend their free period.

Anastasia couldn't help but scoff at him. "No, _Command_ has kept your identity a secret for six months. _You've_ tried your hardest to unknowingly ruin all of her work." the blonde corrected him.

Peter opened his mouth to argue but saw the look on her face and quickly closed it. He nodded at her and stayed quiet. Irritation welled up inside the portal jumper when she felt her heart twinge at his crestfallen expression. Why did she care so much about his feelings? Regardless, she sighed and looked around for a private space they could talk in. Spotting a janitors closet she grabbed him by the hand and tugged him in.

The spider-ling stumbled into the closet as she shut the door behind them. She gave a slight smirk at his red face and started talking before he could a word in edge-wise.

"Look, my team and I have enemies. Very _dangerous_ enemies." Anastasia raked her fingers through her hair. "We don't have civilian friends, the only people who know us and what we do are other heroes or their loved ones. Bringing you into the fold when we haven't known you for a long time is terrifying."

"Why?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Because if you slip even once, it's game over." Anastasia looked at him imploringly, hoping he would understand. "If it's not the government arresting us for violating the Accords, it would be everyone we've ever taken a contract out on. All the drug kingpins, terror groups, and human traffickers would show up on our doorstep, ready to kill us or worse. Do you get it now?"

The longer she talked the wider Peter's eyes got. The boy looked horrified at all the scenarios she listed, worry taking over his being. In the end he just nodded silently, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I understand." he answered her, voice low and thoughtful. "I'll be more careful."

Anastasia felt her body instantly relax as she got confirmation that he'd be more careful. "Thank you."

"No problem," he muttered, staring at her endearingly.

Anastasia swallowed as she realized how close the two of them were in the small space. Peter was leaned as far away from as he could be which wasn't a lot. She could feel his warm breath on her face, making her bangs move slightly. Suddenly her mind clicked on, making her pay attention to all the things she had ignored yesterday claiming it was nervousness on her side and awkwardness on his. She kept her expression steady despite wanting to break out into a grin.

She cleared her throat. "Peter,"

"Yeah?" he answered, still staring at her.

"Ready to go to the library now?" she asked, amusement rising up slightly as she watched him snap out of whatever trance he was in. He coughed suspiciously and opened the door, waving her to walk out first.

"Right behind you." he said, his voice sounding strained. She nodded and walked out, letting a devious smirk pass over her lips.

She could get behind this handler thing.


End file.
